Starlink Roam (formerly Starlink RV) and Starlink Residential are two of the several plans offered by the satellite internet company. The names are pretty self explanatory – Roam is designed for recreational travelers, while Residential is for home internet. But the two service plans offer different performance, features, and costs.
In this comparison guide, I will break down the differences between Starlink Roam and Residential. I will cover the hardware, costs, performance, and features. I will also detail the important ordering and billing differences. Finally, I’ll recommend which service you should get based on your needs.
Table of Contents
Hardware
The hardware is identical between Roam and Residential. You get the same antenna, router, base, and cable.
Starlink doesn’t offer any Roam accessories at this time (except the travel case). I know many RV owners will be looking for a DC power supply or RV specific mounts, but Starlink doesn’t make any of that. You’ll have to look to aftermarket vendors if you need accessories for your rig.
Related: Tutorial: 12V DC Power Supply For Starlink RV
Price
When you order Starlink, you’ll pay a one-time equipment fee and then a monthly service charge. Here is the cost breakdown between Roam and Residential:
Equipment
The equipment cost is $599 for both Roam and Residential. This buys you the hardware kit, including the antenna, router, and stand.
Monthly Service
Residential: $120 per month
Roam: $150 per month for Regional Roam, $200 per month for Global Roam
Performance
Since the hardware is identical, the performance capability of Roam and Residential is the same. However, Residential users always have bandwidth priority over Roam users. This means that, in times of heavy network traffic in an area, Roam performance will be worse than Residential users in the area. Speeds will be more inconsistent, and latency could be higher.
Here are the official performance specs:
Residential: 20-100 mbps down, 5-15 mbps up, 25-50 ms latency
Roam: 5-50 mbps down, 2-10 mbps up, 25-50 ms latency
Neither plan has a hard data limit, although Residential users have access to 1TB of Priority Access data each month. Priority Access means higher speeds. Roam users, and Residential users who go over 1TB of data, are on Basic Data. Basic Data will be slower in times of network congestion.
Features
Starlink Roam is great for being able to travel with your Starlink dish, but there are some other benefits over Residential as well:
Pausing Service
The main feature that Roam has, compared to Residential, is the ability to pause your service. If you only plan to use Starlink during the camping season, you’ll be able to pause your subscription during the winter, and save money when you aren’t actually using it.
With Residential, you can’t pause service, you can only cancel. And since capacity and availability with Residential is limited, cancelling could put you back on the waitlist, unable to start service back up immediately.
Global Coverage
Residential users are locked at their service address. Roam users can use their Starlink virtually anywhere. Starlink offers Regional Roam and Global Roam. With the Regional plan, users can travel within their own continent.
By upgrading to Global Roam, users can use Starlink anywhere around the world. The flexibility of being able to move around without worrying about the waitlist is a major advantage of Roam over Residential.
Availability
There are several differences between Roam and Residential when it comes to ordering, traveling, and availability:
Waitlist
Residential Starlink service is limited at the moment. There is a certain capacity in each area, which slowly expands as more and more satellites are launched. If you try to order Starlink Residential, you may be stuck on the waitlist, waiting to be able to order your hardware kit.
Starlink Roam doesn’t have a waitlist. In most areas, you can order it immediately without waiting. Since Roam doesn’t technically have a service address, you can choose to ship it just about anywhere.
Restrictions
There are some restrictions with Roam, such as needing to stay within the same continent as your shipping address. You can upgrade to Global Roam to travel outside the continent.
With either Roam plan, if you move outside of the shipping address country for more than 2 months, you’ll be required to re-register in that country.
Which Starlink should I order?
The best Starlink service for you depends on what you plan to do with it. Are you stuck on the waitlist, desperate for internet? Perhaps you have a main house and a vacation home that you plan to take your Starlink to?
Read each section below. The points highlight the differences between Roam and Residential. You’ll know which option is best for you if you agree with the majority of the points listed in that section.
Get Starlink Residential if:
- you primarily need home internet service
- you never need to travel with Starlink
- you want the highest level of performance at home
- you will use Starlink year-round
Get Starlink Roam if:
- you primarily need recreational/portable/travel internet service
- you can’t wait on the Residential waitlist
- you want the ability to pause monthly service payments
- you don’t mind performance inconsistency
Conclusion
Starlink Roam is primarily aimed at travelers who need a portable high speed internet option. Starlink Residential is aimed at customers needing home internet. The hardware is identical, but there are some major differences with features, performance, and availability.
Order Roam if you just need portable internet to use at multiple locations. With Roam, you’ll be able to pause service when you aren’t using it. Order Residential if you primarily need home internet and it’s available at your address.
I hope this guide has helped you understand the difference between the Starlink plans. If you have any further questions, leave a comment below or contact me.
Did you know you can convert Roam to Residential to skip the waitlist?
If I switch from residential to roam will I be able to get a second wire so that I can leave one installed at home.
Yes, you can buy additional cables in the Starlink shop. You could even buy another router if you want, so that all you have to do is take the dish with you back and forth.
I have to give positive feedback about Starlink. I received an email this afternoon that my waitlisted order was ready to ship. I have been using a ROAM/Mobile Account for the past 6months or more. I messaged Starlink with the question/request to use my current hardware on a standard plan and was expecting the answer that it was not possible per the tread above. To my surprise, I received a response back within 15-30mintes that my account had already been updated to the standard plan and I did not need to purchase new equipment. I am not sure that this will be the experience of everyone given the many factors in your market but was elated to have experience such great service, especially in the telecom industry.
Since the residential is going for $199 (hardware + Canada)
would i be able to purchase it as “residential” but then switch to a ROAM plan once i get the hardware.
we are nomads all year round but prefer the higher speeds for wifi phone calls (during work) and gaming (weekends and rainy days)
Yes, a lot of people are doing this to take advantage of the discount.
Thank you for your insights on StarLink! Please comment on these questions:
1. If I get residential service will I be able to use it on the road as long as I am not moving? Or will it only connect at the service address?
2. The app show my coverage with 10% obstructions. I have seen RVs with less available sky, and they state they have uninterrupted service. Any thoughts in minimums?
1. It will only connect near your service address, but you can simply update the service address if you know where you will be going. It’s not guaranteed that the service address will be able to update in waitlisted areas, or that you will be able to switch back to your actual home service address. Roam is more flexible for traveling because it doesn’t have a service address, and just works anywhere.
2. I’ve camped with a lot more than 10% obstructions. For things like streaming Netflix or checking email, you probably won’t notice, or can work around the interruptions. Any obstructions will make live events like video calls and gaming tough. So it really just depends on what you are doing. But for RV’s, in areas without cell service, any internet is better than none!
We are considering Regional Roam so we have coverage when traveling. However our primary need is home internet for work and streaming. Should we be concerned that we won’t have good coverage at home if we choose Roam since Residential is prioritized over Roam?
You’ll probably notice more inconsistent speeds and latency if you live in an area with a lot of Starlink subscribers. Most people who travel purchase 2 units and 2 plans so they can have Residential at home, and Roam on the road. Roam can be paused when you aren’t traveling.
Does Starlink Roam have active, reliable service in the 76247 zip code?
Coverage is global with Starlink.
Hello, Also on the waiting list for residential (probably over a year-$99 deposit). Would it be better to cancel my deposit and waiting status to get the Mobile Unit now and use at my home? Couldn’t I later convert this setup to a residential plan once it’s available in my area?
Starlink doesn’t allow conversions to Residential in waitlisted areas. You can get Mobile and use it now, but you won’t be able to convert. If you keep your pre-order and it becomes available, you will have to purchase another dish for the Residential plan if you want it.
Hello, I bought the residential package in Melbourne (Australia) but I have moved to another country (within same region) where service is on waitlist. I have converted my plan from residential to regional package but I still can not connect to my starlink now. What am I doing wrong?
You could have tried to update the service address first to maintain Residential. What does the app say? Any error messages?
Hi! Thank you so much for this article which is much MUCH clearer about options and billing / ability to pause than the Starlink site!
I would like to get the rural service in the Roam configuration for my seasonal RV site (ie camping) while the $199 hardware special is available. I’m located in Canada.
Problem is, I don’t need the service until next season, so I would want to sign up and then pause the service right away without spending $150 for the next 30 days that I won’t be using it.
Do you know if this is possible to order the hardware only and pause service right away?
I can’t confirm 100%, but if you pause before the billing cycle starts, you should be able to avoid paying the first month. Another option is to purchase the hardware from Home Depot or Best Buy (if available in your area) and then just activate it when you are ready to use it.
Residential is not available in our area yet. They say it is supposed to be available this year, but we can’t wait much longer as we have no other internet options.
If we went with Roam and a few months later, residential became available, could we just switch to residential then?
If the answer is yes, does it matter if we are on the wait list ($99 deposit) or not?
If it does matter, should we take ourselves off the waitlist by getting the deposit refunded?
Or is there something else we should do?
Thanks in advance 🙂
In a waitlisted area, you wouldn’t be able to just switch from Roam to Residential. Capacity is opened up to pre-order deposit holders, and they don’t allow you to transfer in equipment when converting a pre-order to a full order. So if you got Roam, you would have to buy the hardware and open up a Residential plan that is separate. You could always just sell the Roam hardware, though.
I would stay on the waitlist, in case you got offered Best Effort, or for when Residential becomes available. Once that happens, if you don’t need the Roam unit, just sell it on the used market.
I have been waiting on my residential hardware for 2 months now. I was thinking about ordering the RV which I would get almost immediately. Would I be able to switch it to residential after I receive my hardware ?
Not if your address is waitlisted.